Dieters Beware of Gimmicks!

Have you noticed how well things sell or are marketable when a gimmick is attached? In marketing of most things, a gimmick (synonyms include: device, fetch, trick, play, ploy, scheme, wile, shenanigan) is used to attract business or attention.

“Using weight loss products as an example: No matter what the ruse, the amount you eat and the amount you move come into play no matter what the gimmick may tell you.”

It may be an important feature that is not immediately apparent, such as colored toilet paper – as if the color really matters – or possibly an emotion driven device such as a dietary supplement or hopeful outcome. Whatever it may be, the gimmick allows the item being sold to stand out from its contemporaries. This ability to stand out is what sells the product, not the item for consumption or idea itself, but its gimmick.

The talent to see beyond the gimmick and look for the actual function of the product is very beneficial and extremely cost effective. Using weight loss products as an example: No matter what the ruse, the amount you eat and the amount you move come into play no matter what the gimmick may tell you. The Wise-Crack Dictionary by Main and Grant portray it best: A gimmick is a device used for making a fair game crooked.